The 12 Zodiacs
by vala-anna
Summary: Set after the movie. The CIA thought he betrayed them. Raizo thought they betrayed him. They try to kill him so he runs, and in the midst of it he finds her, a girl with Kiriko's face. What is the truth behind everything? Can he ever find peace? Raizo/OC
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I wrote this from a scene that just popped into my head one morning, so I don't actually have a plot yet. I welcome any suggestions as well as any pointers ad constructive crit. Reviews are always good to receive, of course :) Please enjoy:**_

* * *

Within an hour of the assassination of the President of the CIA, a warrant for death was sent out for Assassin 666. No doubt was left in their minds as to who betrayed their association. He was a foreigner after all, and trained to be a deadly killer who made no ties from childhood; a devil in human form. He had even betrayed the very clan that raised him, no more than a few months ago.

Those who had mistrusted him from the beginning rested their cases. Those who had put some faith in him were left in shock. But the letter found in the red tinted office scene left no space for uncertainty, for it contained black sand. It was a tradition of the decimated Ozunu Clan. _His_ clan.

* * *

_Why_ did this happen to him? Will he ever stop running from enemies that sought to kill him?

Raizo pressed his foot down on the accelerator and heard the engine whine in response as he continued to swerve around the cars coming at him.

After freeing himself from the Ozunu, he had thought that he could stop killing, but that was a naïve thought on his part. He knew _nothing_ about surviving in the normal society. He had no skills that could land him a well-paid job either and in the end, he had realised that shedding blood was the best – no, the _only_ thing he was capable of doing. That had been a depressing thought.

So he had offered his services to the Americans. That was a mere two months ago.

And now they are chasing him down the highway, firing their guns at him. They wanted him dead, that he knew for sure when black-suited men started to shoot him as he attempted to enter the parking lot of the local CIA branch. But he did not know the _why_, and that frustrated him.

A screech of tires brought him out of his inner ponderings and he wrenched the wheel around just in time to avoid a crash and get on the off-ramp. He glanced in his rear-view mirror and was satisfied to see his last pursuer ram straight into the oncoming traffic. He had gone into the wrong lane on purpose after all, knowing that his reflexes would always be faster than those of the other officers and the plan had paid off just as he'd expected it to. He had lost them quite efficiently.

Now he just needed to find a motel for the night and sort everything out in his head before he tried to find the reasons for this sudden betrayal from the CIA.

~xXx~

It was late at night when he finally arrived at the door of his small motel room. It was just as he was about to enter the room that he felt a faint presence at the edge of his senses. He unlocked the door and let it swing open. The inside of the room was rather bare. A low coffee table stood in the middle of the room with a well-worn, beige sofa behind it was all the furniture in the room except for the neatly made bed that stood in the left corner, washed in the soft light of the moon that streamed in through the windows framed in the white walls.

The rest of the room was dark and Raizo stepped carefully into the room, well aware that his enemy could be anywhere in the shadows.

The faint presence amplified to a threatening one the minute his foot touched the floor, and on fighting instinct, he ducked. Raizo felt the edge of a blade pass over his head as he rolled away and blended into the shadows, glad that his habit of wearing black clothes never died. The presence was coming towards him again and he readied himself for a fight.

The swoosh of the weapon swinging towards him told him where to go and he spent the next few seconds dodging, moving around the unknown person, looking for an opening – a chance where he could disarm her.

He spun to the right as the blade came from overhead and he heard the splintering wood of a piece of furniture being cleaved in half. There, a chance. He immediately flashed towards the presence (who was much shorter than him, he noticed) and delivered a powerful strike to the face while twisting the sword out from the hands that held it. A feminine cry reached his ears.

He grabbed the woman by the throat before she could recover and pinned her against a moonlit wall, sword pointed at her heart.

"Who are you?" he demanded, voice as toneless as always.

Dark, defiant eyes glared back at him. He pulled her away from the wall and slammed her against it again.

"Who are you?" he repeated. Again he received no answer. He dug his fingers beneath the cloth of her mask. "What clan are you fro –"

Shock permeated his mind as he saw the face of his opponent and his grip relaxed, dropping the sword onto the wooden floor. The shock must've have shown on his face, for he found himself on the ground in the next second, the sword pointed at his throat.

His mind still numb, Raizo reached a hand toward her face, not quite touching it, no quite believing what he saw. _It cannot be_, he thought, and yet, it is. The same face that haunted his thoughts every now and then was right in front of him. "_Kiriko_..."

A strange gleam entered the woman's eyes at his murmur and the sword point that had been about to pierce his skin drew back.

"You know my sister?" she asked.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sister?_ Raizo echoed in his head. He looked into the eyes of the girl with Kiriko's face and all of a sudden, it became clear to his dazed mind.

"You are her twin," he stated.

"Yes..."

He almost couldn't believe it. To have Kiriko back – but no, as much as she looked like her, this woman was not Kiriko. He felt the pressure on his chest ease away as she rose to her feet, allowing him to do the same and they stood facing each other, Raizo still with the weapon pointed at him.

"Tell me about her."

He regarded her silently, his face suddenly returning to its normal state, once again showing none of his thoughts to the outside world. The demand was spoken as softly as the moonlight that caressed her features, making her skin a pale white and hair as black as the shadows she had been trained to walk so well in. So alike Kiriko in appearance...yet still different in spirit.

Should he tell her about her sister and the path she chose? Well, yes, she had every right to know what happened to her but what if she became angry? As unreasonable as it was, Raizo did not want to see her upset. But being unreasonable is unreasonable so he had to tell her.

"She is dead," he said without inflection. He saw her eyes widen a fraction, and then blink three times blankly. "She tried to run from the clan," he added as an explanation.

She looked away from his eyes to a spot on the floor and a smallest frown creased her smooth brow, but Raizo still caught a glimpse of the tears that filmed her eyes. He wondered briefly at how she remembered her life outside of her clan, and if Kiriko knew about her when she chose to run that stormy night. He barely had any memories of his life before he was adopted by the Ozunu.

"Who killed her?" Her voice held a quiet anger when she spoke.

"The person who held the sword that killed her, is already dead," he replied, not bothering to hide the satisfaction that crept into his voice. "I killed him."

"One of your _brothers_." Her eyes flicked towards his and flicked away again. Her fist clenched around the sword's hilt.

That accusation was enough to break Raizo's emotionless mask. "I stopped thinking of them as my family when she died," he snapped testily, glaring down at her. "That man was _never_ my brother!"

Seconds passed as the two stared at each other and then she finally broke her gaze.

"Sorry," she muttered, looking at the floor.

Raizo simply inclined his head in acknowledgement. Another moment of silence passed.

"Why did you frame me?"

"I was sent to kill you. The killing of your master was necessary insurance in case I was not able to do my job. They would if I could not."

"What clan are you from?"

"I cannot say."

He frowned at this, and then asked, "How were you separated from your sister when you were taken?"

"We were the only survivors of a sickness that passed through our village. I was away collecting water when Kiriko was taken. I was only taken a day later," she answered, and a flicker of curiosity passed through her eyes. "How were you taken?"

Raizo looked at her silently again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that, but then again, there had been many things to deliberate tonight. As for the question... "I do not remember," he finally replied.

"Nothing?" she asked. A touch of sadness coloured her tone.

He shook his head. "My memories begin a day before the dinner. More importantly," he added, "why were you sent to kill me?"

The small woman in front of him started to chew on her lower lip and she swung the sword round and round in a motion meant to flick blood off the blade. Her sudden indecision and discomfort made him tense and he carefully shifted his feet into a shizen, his favoured ready stance, his weight on the balls of his feet.

The swinging blade came to an abrupt halt. He bent his knees, ready for anything.

"Help me run from my clan!" she blurted. "I don't want to be part of it anymore. Please, you've done it before. Now that my sister is dead, I have no reason to be part of my clan anymore!"

"What do you mean?" he asked, taken aback by the sudden request.

"I only joined the Doku Clan in the hopes that I would be able to find my sister one day and free her. Now that she is dead..." Tears now ran freely down her pale cheeks. "Please, I am Ayame. Help me run!"

_The Doku Clan_. A clan famous for their use of deadly poisons. No one knew how to counter their poison, for they are unique and handmade and the antidotes are a closely guarded clan secret.

"First tell me why they want to kill me."

A soft sniffle came from her direction. "I-I am not clear, but Lord Doku mentioned something about a competition. Something that happened only once every 120 years."

Raizo's eyes widened. "The 12 Zodiacs," he whispered. Now he understood. He had heard of it from Lord Ozunu too, when he was alive. And from what he knows this was bad news.

Ayame blinked. "You know of it? What is it?"

He nodded once. "You know your clan will not let you run," he said, not answering her second question. "The only way to be free of them is if you kill Lord Doku. Are you prepared to do that?"

She straightened her posture. "Yes," she said, tone decisive, "I am."

* * *

**_A/N: Updated 08 Nov '11  
_Review as always :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"We should be safe here for the moment."

Ayame peered around his arms at their temporary lodging. Even in the dim light of the moon, she could still see that the flat was rather dilapidated. The wooden floor was like elephant skin, unpolished and grey with dirt and age. The walls had patches of dark speckles on it. She assumed it was mould. At least, the furniture looked half-way decent, the kitchen fitting with only a light dusting of rust.

Despite all these shortcomings, however, she knew that it was as good a hiding place as can be. The flat consisted only of two rooms: one an open plan kitchen, lounge and room and the other a small bathroom. There were no corners at all for potential assassins to hide behind.

She followed Raizo inside and turned around to close the door and flick the light switch on.

"Size 28," he said suddenly.

"Hmm?" Ayame turned around and walked straight into his chest. "Eeep! I mean, yes, yes, size 28," she managed to squeak while stumbling away from the tall man. She looked up at him just in time to see humour flash through his eyes. _He's laughing at me._ The slightest pout appeared on her face. The look in his eyes intensified.

"Good. I shall buy some new clothes for you. Take a shower while I'm gone and discard of the clothing properly. I trust you know how to protect yourself?" he asked, shoving a shuriken-filled pouch and a pair of nunchucks into her arms. "Take these."

She glanced down in surprise. "But – but I still have my swords," she exclaimed. "I don't need these. You don't have to..." she trailed off as she watched his back disappear down the staircase. "Fine," she muttered, and closed the door again.

Soon she was standing in the small shower with warm water raining down on her, relaxing her muscles and allowing her to think clearly about the things she had learnt tonight and the choices she had made. Her clothes lay discarded beside her on the white bathroom tiles out of range of the water. She would have to take them down to the incinerator later.

Just then, she realised a major flaw in Raizo's great plan. There was no towel. She didn't have any other clothes either and she wasn't about to go wandering through the block of flats in her naked glory. She heaved a sigh and resigned herself to the only other option available: wait for Raizo to return.

~xXx~

Raizo strode out into the night thinking deeply on the strange turn his life had taken and on the 12 Zodiacs. If it was the 12 Zodiacs (which he sincerely hoped wasn't, but didn't have many hopes for his hopes) then it meant that the 12 clan leaders were going have to converge in a neutral location and hold a tournament in which the winner would...

He sighed heavily. He did not know _what_ the winner would gain. All he knew was that the prize was much coveted for and that the tournament was held in the week of the Chinese New Year.

It was at this moment that he arrived at the front of the clothing store two blocks away from the flat and realised a major flaw in his great plan. The store would only open in another four hours. He was not about to wait four hours for something that was an urgently needed safety precaution. He frowned at the locked doors in front of him and resigned himself to the only other option available: to break into the store. He would leave the money due on the counter, of course.

~xXx~

Ayame only waited 15 minutes before there was a tentative knock on the bathroom door. She snapped to attention and quickly drew the shower curtain around to block her from view. She peeked cautiously around the curtain, body tense and ready to fight, naked or not, should it turn out to be a foe coming in through the door.

As it turned out, she had no reason to worry. The door simply opened a crack and a hand clutching some clothing and a towel appeared, dropped off its load and disappeared again. Ayame grinned. He'd even remembered to buy a towel! She hopped out of the shower and dried off swiftly. When she started to put her clothes on (all black, as usual), she saw, to her eternal embarrassment, that he had even remembered to buy underwear for her. Underwear that, as she found out shortly, fitted her perfectly. She coughed uncomfortably and put the rest of her clothing on with added haste as though the speed at which she dressed would hide her mortification.

Another 15 minutes found her sitting opposite from Raizo in a couch.

"There are 12 clans, as you know," he was explaining, "and each clan is representative of a zodiac sign. The Doku Clan, for example is the Snake and the Ozunu Clan was the Tiger."

Ayame nodded to show her understanding when he paused. She had heard this before.

"Every 120 years, the clan leaders would gather in a secret location, known only to them, and hold a tournament on the week of the Chinese New Year. I do not know what the winner of the tournament gains. All I know is that the prize is very much sought-after within the clans and they often resort to underhanded techniques well before the start of the tournament in hopes of weakening or even killing their opponents."

"Is that why they wanted to kill you?" she asked.

Raizo dipped his head affirmative. "I killed Lord Ozunu. The title therefore falls upon me, whether I want it or not."

"But why did my cl – _they_ target you of all the clan leaders?"

"The Ozunu Clan was the winner of the last tournament. This means that the Ozunu Clan is the strongest clan."

"So they fear you," she deduced, "and now that you are only one person without a clan, there is a greater opportunity to kill you, perhaps the strongest of them. If they kill you it means that they have a greater chance of obtaining the prize."

"That is what I think, yes."

Silence reigned as they pondered upon the implications of this competition. There was one thing that somewhat confused Ayame, however.

"Why are they the only ones trying to kill you? What about the other clans? Why aren't they trying to kill you too?"

It was a very good question. Why indeed, was the Doku Clan so intent on killing him? He didn't know, so he shook his head.

"Why Chinese?" she asked after another pause.

Raizo looked at her and raised a brow. _Of all the questions to ask.._. "Does it matter?"

"I guess not, but still," she grumbled. "What are we going to –"

Abruptly, all the lights went out and they were cast into darkness. Ayame glanced out the window. There were still a couple of hours before dawn.

"They're here," Raizo whispered, already melting into the shadows. "Get your weapons, we have to go."

"I thought you said it was going to be safe!" she accused in a heated whisper.

"I said it was going to be safe _for the moment_," he replied dryly.

* * *

_**Updated 08 Nov '11**_


	4. Chapter 4

_****__A/N: Apologies for the very long wait ^.^ and thank you to ALL who reviewed or put this story on alert or favourites etc. I have no excuse. It was just a really, unbelievably stressful and busy year this year but hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly now :) In any case, sorry if the writing isn't as great; I haven't written this in a long time._

* * *

_Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!_ Ayame cursed internally as she hastily rolled off her couch and landed on the floor in a crouch, just in time to avoid a speeding object that hurtled through the window, shattering the glass and sending a sprinkle of small shards of glinting glass down on her back. She tilted her body to one side, allowing the pieces of glass to slide to the floor with dull _chinks_, and then skilfully slithered along the couch's shadow to the deeper shadows in the corner of the room where she stood up, the adrenaline that pumped through her veins making her tense and hyperaware of her surroundings.

Seconds later, more shuriken came flying through the window, followed by fifteen shadows which flitted in through the broken window. It was a group that was normally large enough to subdue her, but they did not know that she had her supposed victim on her side. The faint sound of weapons being drawn could be heard in the following silence. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.

A sword blinked in the dim light of the moon and came slicing towards her neck. She lowered her stance in a duck and slid her right foot forward, sending a powerful snap punch at her attacker's solar plexus. She felt the man's breath leave his body and he doubled over, wheezing. She grabbed onto his head and smashed her knee into his face before he could try anything else, and finished him with a blow to the back of his head.

She straightened and immediately twirled to her left to avoid two shuriken flying at her. She could hear the whizz of Raizo's knife and the clang of chain hitting blade as he engaged in battle. She hopped over another sword swipe and twisted in the air to avoid another blade. She hastily grabbed a couple of shuriken from the pouch Raizo had given her which was attached to her left hip and flung them with practised speed and accuracy.

One of them managed to deflect the deadly star. She pulled one of her swords from her back and made quick work of him during his second of distraction. A blade grazed her ribs, but she ignored the sting as she had been trained to do and she whipped around to face another black-clothed shinobi. Before she could connect a strike, however, a chain-held knife buried itself into the man's neck and flashed out of her sight. A hand grasped her wrist. She turned without a flinch and raised her sword, about to slice the hand off.

"Get the car," murmured Raizo's voice, and her sword stilled, not two centimetres away from his skin. "We are nearly done here."

She gave a brief nod to show her understanding and then took a running leap out the broken window. A shuriken followed her out and lodged itself in the muscle of the junction between her arm and her neck. She hissed in pain and annoyance and quickly pulled it out before she landed on the pavement two stories below. She bent her knees and channelled her momentum into a roll, then stood immediately and ran off to get the car.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Police sirens. Ayame's fingers increased their tempo on the steering wheel. Someone must've heard the fight and called the police. And Raizo is sure taking his sweet time. She revved the engine impatiently and sure enough, the car shook violently as someone landed on the roof. She kept a hand on a sword as a precaution, but relaxed when Raizo's form slithered down the side of the car.

"Drive," he ordered tersely as soon as he sat down.

"Where?"

"Away from the sirens."

She released the handbrake and stepped on the accelerator. Time to put her driving skills to the test.

~xXx~

"Go into the parking lot."

They had been driving for some time and the sirens were now far behind them. The parking lot was that of a motel, whose sign proudly declared in bright neon lights that it was the best motel in town. She did as she was told without a question. She hadn't known him for long, but she already knew that he did everything for a reason and that that reason was most likely going to save them. She pulled into a parking space neatly and she turned to ask him what was next. Except he was not there. The empty seat where a human had occupied just moments ago gave her a pause and a brief idea that she had in fact left him behind flitted through her mind.

A horn honked as quietly as it could and she glanced up at the rearview mirror. Raizo sat in the driver's seat of a luxurious silver sports car. He had the black tinted windows rolled down and gestured for her to hurry up.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she scrambled in. The seats were leather and the engine could be heard or felt and was powerful enough to outrun the car of the average policeman. The only thing that kept it from becoming the perfect car was its colour. Silver was bright. It was bling. And bright and bling do not hide well in the night.

"Ozunu Clan House."

"Oh. Why?" That meant they were heading for the airport and going back to Japan.

"The location should have been delivered there," he replied, his logic clear and cold as usual. "The easiest time to kill Lord Doku is during the tournament. There he is likely to be less well-guarded. We would both die if we ever attempt to storm the Doku Clan House."

This was true. She fell silent and leaned back in her comfy seat, finding the button that lowered the seat back. Now that the action was over – at least for now – fatigue enveloped her. The wound in her shoulder was burning on contact with the seat back so she turned on her side and brought her feet up to curl into a ball. Her shoes would dirty the pristine leather, but that was the least of her concerns. They would change cars again soon to keep the police and whoever else was after them off their spoors for longer – if only for a little while. She yawned widely.

"Sleep," he said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What about you?"

"I don't need it."

Ayame snorted, but shut her eyes nevertheless. "Don't lie," she murmured sleepily. "Everyone needs sleep."

Raizo glanced at her out the corner of his eye. While she looked exactly like her sister, she was so different from her. She was slightly wilder and had a much harder heart, willing to kill without a second thought where her sister couldn't. Perhaps they were once alike in that regard, but the training she went through took her down one path while it took Kiriko down another. Ayame had the will to adapt and survive; Kiriko had the will not to compromise her values.

He sighed, a barely noticeable expelling of air through his lips. He was doing it again, comparing the two sisters. They were their own person in their own right; neither was better than the other, and yet his mind often wandered along this boulevard. Ayame shifted beside him and he glanced at her again. There was a rather deep wound in her shoulder, he noticed. It was still sluggishly seeping blood and looked to be a shuriken wound. He himself had gotten off with only a few scratches and bruises here and there that would heal in a matter of days. It was what he counted as one of his luckier battles with ninjas. In any case, he would treat that wound tomorrow morning. It was deep, but not serious. She looked to peaceful in her sleep for him to be willing to wake her up now.

He glanced in the rearview mirror and settled more comfortably into his seat as he saw that there was no-one behind them. There were still a couple of hours before they would reach the airport. It should be day by then.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading!  
**__**Updated 08 Nov '11**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Another chapter for you to enjoy :) I had a spurt of creativity today, and have the outline of the story figured out. Hopefully inspiration will come to me more quickly now.**_

* * *

"Wake up."

Ayame stirred, then settled into a lighter sleep. A hand touched her lightly on her shoulder and shook gently. She blinked drowsily, Raizo's face coming into focus as she woke fully in a matter of seconds. Weak sunlight dribbled through the windows onto her skin. A new day. She wondered if things would go as smoothly as she hoped they would today, but doubt latched onto her heart with its devious little claws as she looked out at the looming airport building not far away. Airports meant people and people included people like officials and security police.

A light pop of breaking thread attracted her attention and she shifted to face Raizo who she discovered to be threading a needle. She tilted her head curiously.

"For your wound," he answered, sensing her question.

"You don't need to. I've had worse. They healed."

His hands paused, but continued. "It might become infected." His dark eyes regarded her. "You don't want to deal with that while on the run."

She shrugged and she turned onto her side to expose her wounded shoulder when he motioned for her to do so. "You can heal yourself, can't you?"

"Yes."

"Can't you teach me that instead?"

Something almost akin to a smile fluttered about his lips. "Perhaps, when we have the time."

She didn't reply, but instead bit the stick of wood that he held in front of her face. Without further ado, the man shoved the needle point carefully through her bloody flesh. Her body tensed at the piercing pain, but she remained still. By the time he tied up the knot, her head was leaning against his shoulder and her eyes were squeezed shut at the pain.

She slowly exhaled when she felt the slight tug on her wound when he cut the string with a quick stroke of a knife. As he put his tools away, she examined her wound. The stitching was neatly done, like a row of little teeth. She rotated her shoulder experimentally. It twinged, but it was serviceable and wouldn't tear as long as she didn't exert too much force. "So now what do we do? We can't just walk into the airport."

"No," he agreed, looking at the airport thoughtfully. "The Doku Clan has most likely concluded that I am with you, but they will not bother us in day. The CIA is the only thing we have to worry about." He turned to her. "Here is what we will do…"

Ayame listened attentively as he outlined their course of action. She wondered briefly how long it had taken him to come up with the plan, and then admired his ability to make a situation such as theirs work for him.

"Understood?"

She gave a firm nod. "Of course."

"I will be waiting outside."

~xXx~

Ayame's fingers twitched nervously as the shop attendant scanned the items she was buying. Not only was she unused to being amongst so many people in broad daylight, but Raizo (damn him) had insisted that she leave her swords, and any other potentially dangerous object, behind so that airport officials wouldn't have an excuse to search her if she were so unlucky as to attract their attention.

"$150 please," the shop attendant said with a smile.

She tensed and fished out the money Raizo had handed her a few minutes ago out of her pants pocket. She deposited the correct amount on the counter wordlessly.

"Thank you for your purchase," the attendant offered cheerfully, "and enjoy your flight!"

She nodded stiffly and stuffed everything she'd bought into the newly purchased backpack (black, with no metal, as Raizo demanded) with quick movements before stepping out once more into the busy airport terminal.

She cast a glance around her. There were people talking on cellphones, discussing business deals, and people eating at the various restaurants. Some were slumbering away on the cushioned seats and others milled about, towing bags and boxes. There was a security guard at the end of the passage, leaning lazily again the plain wall, but he was far away enough not to cause any trouble.

Having ascertained that there was no danger, Ayame made her way to the television screen that would show departure times. She looked up.

"Japan, Japan, Japan…" she muttered under her breath, eyes scanning the small, somewhat unfamiliar letters. Bingo. Her eyes followed along the row. She nodded to herself and slung the bag over her healthy shoulder. If they were to make it, they would need to up the pace a little. Pivoting, she strode purposefully away.

~xXx~

Raizo glanced up as he sensed her approaching. He was unused to leaving jobs such as these up to other people – he preferred to do them himself, but he knew that sending Ayame in would cause a lot less trouble than him going in. His face has most likely been sent to every major security company by now, thus he would definitely be noticed and apprehended if he were to walk into the airport.

So he put some trust into the woman. But that didn't stop him from fretting. Of course, he didn't show it outwardly, but inwardly, his mind had been plagued by a series of 'what ifs', all ending in her premature demise.

But it seemed that she had pulled it off rather well. His mind calmed, its previous fears forgotten, as she stopped in front of him, a wad of change in her hands.

"Keep it," he told her.

She shrugged and the money disappeared into her pocket. "Terminal 3, SQ487," she provided without prompt. "It's departing in an hour. We'll need to hurry."

He took in the information silently, his mind already slotting it in to the empty spots in his plan. "Good. Follow me."

* * *

They watched the man carefully, crouched behind a tower of bags.

"Remember, there will be three people loading the cargo when we get there. The first will be putting the cargo onto the belt. The second will be watching the bags as they enter the cargo hold. The third will be inside the hold, organizing the luggage. We will only need to neutralize the second man and the third man," he informed her, his voice scarcely a whisper.

"How do you know all this?" she whispered back, impressed.

"Careful observation. Let's go."

~xXx~

"Who are you?" the man grunted. "What happened to Ed?"

Ayame looked at Raizo, wondering what he would say. They were both currently sitting in the airport buggy that was responsible for towing the luggage to the plane. And currently, they were being questioned by one of the cargo loaders – the first man.

"Your friend needed the restroom," Raizo lied without missing a beat. "He asked us to take the luggage for him."

The man grunted again, believing him. In truth, the man in question – Ed – _was _in the bathroom. Except he was knocked out cold.

"So you're newbies, huh. Well, next time you come out, make sure you're wearing one o' these," he tugged at his neon yellow vest. "Things can get dangerous out here."

"Of course," Raizo agreed.

The man nodded and walked towards the luggage, unaware of the two pairs of sharp eyes that were watching his every move carefully. As soon as he turned his back to pick up the first piece of luggage, Ayame and Raizo moved. Fast.

They hopped off the buggy quietly and ran towards the other official who was watching the various boxes travelling up the portable conveyor belt carefully. The second man. He turned, startled, when they neared him, but Raizo sent a precise blow to the back of his head before he could utter a sound. They were now at the entrance to the hold.

They glanced back at the first man who was engrossed in his work. As his back was turned again, Raizo gripped her by her waist and hoisted her up so that she could hook her elbows over the edge and pull herself in. She slid in like the snake her clan was named after and disappeared. A muffled 'oomph' told him that she had taken the last of the enemy out.

Even for someone of his height, the floor of the cargo hold was still a little hard to reach. He executed a cautiously timed jump and hauled his tall frame up, muscles straining. Ayame grinned at him as she tossed the incoming bags haphazardly all over the place, taking over the work as to avoid suspicion.

He offered her a small smile of triumph and set about disposing the body she had left behind by dropping the body carefully down onto the tarmac.

It was only when all the luggage was packed and the cargo doors were sealed that the man realized that his work buddies were lying on the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Ayame shivered as the plane continued to climb in altitude. Despite the hold being climate controlled for the travelling animals, it was still freezing. She wrapped the thick jacket she had bought earlier today around her even tighter. After several moments, her teeth began to chatter again so she dug her icy fingers clumsily into the backpack next to her and pulled out the blanket jerkily. But nothing seemed to be able to keep her body heat in. Her toes were frigid and numb while her fingers threatened to stop moving all together.

She didn't even acknowledge Raizo as he sat down next to her, concentrated as she was on keeping what little was left of her body heat within her cocoon. He held out several pairs of thick socks and gloves.

"W-w-w-where did you g-g-get those?" she chattered as she took them gratefully and pulled them on with gusto.

"Luggage," he answered simply.

She blinked. So that's where he'd been for the past 10 minutes or so. Looking through people's luggage. Oh well. One must do what one must to survive. But she was still shivering. She looked over at Raizo and scowled when she saw that he appeared to be perfectly warm with only some gloves, socks and a thick jacket on.

She was startled when he shifted his seat closer to hers, and even more startled when he draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled some of her blanket over his legs. She sighed delightedly when some of his body heat seeped into her, thawing her half-frozen muscles. Relaxing against him, she rested her head against his chest contentedly, listening to his steady, beating heart. He had a rather pleasant scent, mixed with the musky odour of sweat. If they didn't wash soon, the sweat would turn pungent, but for now, it was pleasing to the nose.

It was like this that she fell asleep, cold forgotten, his rhythmic heartbeat lulling her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

**_A/N: Please review!_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I'm back :D Terribly sorry about the long wait, but I lost interest in this story for a while, but now I'm back with a nice, long chapter. I have clarified a few points that came up while writing this chapter in previous chapters, so it would be a good idea to go back and read it. I'm sure you need to recap on what has happened in any case ^.^**_

_**Thanks also to everyone who has reviewed/alerted/favourite-d this story! You are greatly appreciated by this author. And an honest question guys: is this story line making sense? If you find any plotholes, please point them out to me and I'll get them fixed.**_

* * *

Ayame was jerked awake by a rough jolting and her hand reached instinctively for the sword she always kept on her back. Her fingers scrabbled fruitlessly for several seconds before she finally realised that her sword was not there. Panic flooded her and adrenaline shot through her veins. She was halfway to her feet when a large hand clamped down on her shoulder and forced her back down. Her wild punch at her attacker was easily knocked aside, as was her awkwardly thrown knee.

"Shh," murmured a voice soothingly. "It's just me."

She blinked, body quivering with suppressed energy as she listened to the familiar voice. Awareness of her surroundings filtered into her mind. Right. She was with Raizo, in the cargo hold of a commercial airline. She was safe – for now. The adrenaline leaked out of her system and she took a deep, calming breath, relaxing against the hand that was rubbing soothing circles into her back.

She looked at her companion and grimaced. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head in his taciturn manner, dismissing her apology. "Dreams?"

She shook her head, expression growing pinched. "It was a...training method." Seeing the question still in his dark eyes, she added shortly, "I don't want to talk about it."

Expecting him to accept it and turn to the practical matters as he always did, she made to rise, but the hand that had been rubbing her back gently kept her in place on the metal flooring. She turned to him inquiringly to find him staring at her intensely. His usually unreadable eyes flickered with something akin to – concern? Her throat suddenly felt dry and he suddenly felt too close. She swallowed nervously, and when she made to get up again, he let her go.

"So how are we getting out of here?" she asked when she'd peeled off her gloves, socks and thick coat which were getting unbearably warm, now that they were back at ground level. She was pleased to hear that her voice was steady.

"We wait," he said, taking their borrowed clothing and tucking them out of sight. "The men we knocked out at the previous airport will have alerted security and they will likely check the hold now. Once they have done that, we go to the Ozunu."

"Are you sure the summons will be there? What if they've destroyed it?"

His forehead creased. "We'll just have to go see. If it is destroyed, we will simply have to find another way to kill Lord Doku."

_He makes it sound so easy_, Ayame grumbled to herself as she slung the backpack (filled with weapons now) over a shoulder and set out to find a suitable niche in which to hide, finger-combing her black hair to neaten it up before tying it in a customary high pony-tail with an elastic she kept on her wrist.

* * *

In the end, save for knocking out a guard, their escape from the airport was uneventful. They'd then proceeded to steal a car and Raizo had driven them north - briefing her about the Ozunu compound in a hard, flat voice and cautioning her that the enemy may well have laid a trap there for them - until they reached an expanse of steep, thickly forested mountain. The drive had taken most of the afternoon away and so it was in darkness that night that they drew close to the stone walls surrounding the clan compound.

Ayame stared up at its foreboding height outlined against a sky bright with moonlight. So this was where her sister had grown up. Its outside was not dissimilar to that of the Doku Clan, she mused, fingering her sword hilt. She glanced at Raizo next to her for further instruction, but he was staring up at the wall as she had been, with the oddest expression on his face. Of course, all expressions looked odd on his face, but this time, the set of his mouth and glint of his eyes spoke of resentment and sadness mixed with a touch of longing.

Again she wondered how close he and her sister had been. Since she'd met him, she'd thought of little other than running and staying alive, and during their journey here, she had been too scared to ask him. Scared of what? She didn't know.

"Raizo?" Her voice was scarcely a whisper, but it was loud enough that his sensitive hearing heard it.

He seemed to give himself a mental shake. "Put on your mask and climb," he told her flatly, digging out and tossing her a pair of shuko claws from the rucksack she had bought. She caught them deftly, a little startled at his abruptness, but she did as she was told to and tugged a mask over her head, adjusting it so that it did not impede her vision or hearing. She inwardly shrugged as she strapped the claws onto her hands with practiced movements. _He must've left this place with the intention of never setting foot here again. And now – here he is_.

She rolled her shoulders, loosening them for the climb ahead. A twinge of pain reminded her of her injured shoulder and she wrinkled her nose, knowing it would complain from the moment she started the climb to the moment she ended the climb. With a sigh, she set her palms against the stone wall and pulled herself up next to Raizo.

Ayame had always disliked the art of climbing, no matter what shadows may be shielding her. It made her nervous: her back always felt too unprotected and, stuck on a vertical surface, she could neither run nor hide should trouble surface. If enemy ninja were about, this would be the perfect time to strike.

It was only when she reached the top of the wall that she remembered to breathe, thanking any god that might have been looking down on her favourably this day that they'd arrived without mishap. With one last heave, she swung a leg up and over the wall and slid her body belly-down onto the width of the wall (it was nice and wide). Several centimetres in front of her was Raizo, who was in a position similar to hers. Once she was settled, he carefully scooted even closer so that he could speak directly into her ear.

"What do you see behind me?" he asked, voice so soft that even she had to strain to hear it.

She kept perfectly still, aware as well as he is that any movement when silhouetted against the sky as they were would alert their presence to people below. The only things she moved were her eyes as she squinted down at the shadowed ground. There she could make out the charcoaled ruins of the main house and the open expanse of the training courtyard. Coal-black eyes roved over the area, searching for any sign of movement that might betray their enemies' whereabouts, but the search was in vain.

"Nothing," she murmured.

"I cannot see anything either." He sounded displeased. "We have to go in blind. Follow me."

As soon as they lowered themselves on the other side of the wall, the attack started. A shuriken buried itself into her lower back, blessedly missing her spine, and another drew a scarlet line on her neck before sinking into the stone like a knife cuts butter. She hissed in pain.

Raizo uttered a string of curses next to her. "Drop!" he commanded and he tugged his shuko free of the stone.

Ayame gritted her teeth and followed suit, knowing that a stationary target was always a dead one. The ground jarred her bones when she reached it and she dropped into a back roll, grunting as the bladed star in her back dug in even deeper. She stood, dizzy and a little disorientated, only to be tackled down by Raizo, avoiding a volley of shuriken by inches. She swore as she landed on her back and swore again as Raizo landed on top of her, winding her.

"Concentrate!" he growled, and then he was on his feet again, yanking her up with him. Gasping from pain and for breath, she complied. She shed her claws and drew her sword in a flash of steel and started weaving and dodging the flying projectiles.

A large mass of Shinobi materialised from the shadows and closed in on them like a black wave. With one sweep of her eyes, she already knew that their situation was hopeless; there were simply too many of them. Raizo obviously knew this too, because he grabbed her left wrist and started to run towards the skeleton of the main house, where the summons would be delivered.

They were mere metres away from it when the first wave of Shinobi reached them. Raizo's fingers released her wrist as both of them spun into the fray without hesitance. To hesitate was to die.

Arterial spray spattered her face as she sliced a neck open, and another screamed as she lopped off a limb. Opponents surrounded her, and she dodged, parried and struck furiously. Numerous scratches and several deep gouges appeared on her body but she paid them no heed. Suddenly, a knife flashed in the air, felling two of her opponents. She quickly despatched the third and engaged in combat with two more. Raizo appeared at her side, fending off several ninjas.

"You know where to look for the summons?" he asked, never a pause between his swinging of the deadly chain.

"Yes," she gasped, muscles burning as she blocked a sword strike from a particularly muscular man. She disengaged to snap her sword towards his unprotected side in a feint. As he took it, she brought her sword up and around to his other side. Her sword bit deeply into his flesh, cutting through the ribs and across the stomach. The man gave a strangled cry and fell, stomach contents spilling out onto the ground, adding to the foul stench of death that was already thick in the air.

"Go. Fetch it. Hurry."

His orders were so ridiculous that she almost did not duck a shuriken in time. She hurriedly refocused on the battle.

"But –"

"Hurry!"

She dithered for one more second before obeying. _It's more important_, she told herself firmly. _The tournament may be our only chance to slay the Lord Doku. _And so slowly, step by step, opponent by opponent, she fought the last few metres to the crumbling entrance of the building, a whirlwind of glinting metal occasionally spitting shuriken. By the time she set foot on the sooty floorboards, her right arm hung useless with a gash across the tricep from shoulder to elbow and a deep cut into her left calf muscle had her limping.

Tired, but not daring to let her guard down, Ayame lurched through the wreck towards the room Raizo had described during the car ride. It was not hard, since the paper screens separating the rooms had been destroyed in the fire. She was even able to see a short, shadowy figure waiting for her.

"Ah, my sister," sneered the figure when she drew close enough. It was a man, and he would have been an attractive man with sculpted cheekbones and strong chin had it not been for the contemptuous turn of his lips. "How good of you to join me. Have you really betrayed our clan, or have you used your wily ways to lure the Lord Ozunu here for us?"

She stiffened in anger at the second suggestion, but said nothing. She recognised him as the cruellest man in the clan – one who enjoyed the pain he dealt. She had grown up training with him, and the memories were not pretty.

He continued when she remained silent. "I believe you're looking for this," he took out a scroll from between the folds of his shirt and waved it mockingly in front of her.

"Why haven't you destroyed it, Aoi, instead of attacking us?" she rasped through a prickly, dry throat.

He chuckled coldly. "The rules are not so simple, little sister. The summons, once dispatched, _must_ reach the Clan Lord to which it is addressed, even if the Lord is dead. The rules are ancient, and not even my Lord Doku dares flout them, for fear he bring misfortune upon himself during the tournament. And," he added, eyes glittering maliciously, "once the summons have reached its addressee, the rules decree that he becomes untouchable to members of other clans." He tucked the little scroll back into his shirt. "Come get it, _little sister_; it'll be my pleasure to bring my Father the head of a traitor."

With that, he melted into the shadows. Ayame's breath hitched. _One way to stop them hunting Raizo; one way to save him_. But she knew her body was not up to fighting with this man. The adrenalin from the battle outside was already wearing away and all her hurts came back now with a vengeance. She saw movement out the corner of her eye and she moved to block instinctively. Their swords touched – just barely – before he pulled away and disappeared once more. _He likes to toy with his prey_, she remembered with a shudder, _and grew arrogant because Lord Doku favoured him_.

Another movement caught her eye, but this time her body responded too slowly and was awarded with a long, shallow cut across the belly. Without letting her a chance to recover, he appeared and bore down on her with all his skill.

The fight did not last long. Being injured and fatigued as she was, she could only parry clumsily and her sword soon flew out of her hands. His sharp sword tip rested lightly at her throat. Aoi grinned triumphantly and Ayame closed her eyes, sure that Death would come to claim her soon. It was a situation where she couldn't get out alive.

"What death is fitting for a traitor?" he hissed, arrogant face alive with the thought of causing pain. "Death by the neck is no fun," his sword traced, almost lovingly down to her chest, "and death by the heart is too quick. No, my sister," he crooned as he moved his sword even lower to her abdomen.

Outside there was a feral roar of desperation. It sounded like Raizo.

"Your death must be slow and painful. You must _suffer_ and I shall relish your pain."

_Raizo_. She couldn't let him die. He had said he would help her escape her clan; she owed him as much. Her eyes snapped open just as Aoi pulled back his sword to drive it into her body. She acted without thought, in a moment of pure insanity.

She grabbed the sword blade and guided it to the side, moving her hand with the thrust so that she wouldn't lose her fingers. It didn't completely miss her as she'd hoped, but it sank through a non-vital spot. In the same moment, she drew a shuriken out her pouch and sliced at his throat with its blades.

Warm blood spurted over her and the man dropped to his knees, grip loosening on his weapon. For a moment, their eyes met, his incredulous and hers grim with purpose, then he sneered, eyes filling with hatred even as the light of life fled them. His body slumped to the floor.

Ayame stared at it dispassionately for several seconds before another roar outside jolted her into action. Clenching her jaw so tightly that it hurt, she pulled the sword slowly from her body and tossed it away. With a hand pressed against the wound to stem the blood, she rolled the corpse on its back with a foot and knelt down. When her fumbling fingers found the scroll hidden between folds of cloth, she stood and forced her body to make its way back to Raizo even as she swayed dangerously with each step.

~xXx~

Raizo was nearing the end of his strength. It had only been fifteen minutes since the battle began, but the blood flowing freely from his many wounds had weakened him considerably. Would he have any regrets if he died now? _Yes_. He would've failed Ayame just as he had failed Kiriko. _Ayame_. Was she alright? He spared a worried glance at the entrance behind him. It was much closer than before and the way to it was clear. He wondered briefly if they shouldn't both have gone in to fetch the scroll, but he knew that if they had taken the fight inside, the summons may well have been lost amidst the chaos. Something stung his neck, but his mind brushed the discomfort away.

"Raizo!"

He glanced back at the entrance again, though his focus never wavered from the fight. Relief flooded him as he saw her. Even if she looked half-dead, she was alive. She hobbled over a mere two metres towards him as quickly as she could, evading his arcing knife as he continued to strike down enemies.

"Stop her! Kill him!" somebody screamed, but it was too late. Ayame thrust the scroll into his outstretched hand.

"Don't touch him!" screamed the voice now. All activity in the yard stopped abruptly, but he did not dare relax. Why did they stop now? He fingered the scroll in his hand. Maybe they couldn't; he did not know the rules of the 12 Zodiacs, but maybe this was one of them.

"Kill the traitor!" came the new order.

Ayame, who was dizzy with blood loss, didn't even have a chance to react. Raizo slipped an arm around her waist and picked her up, yanking her sword from her slack grip as he did so. His own weapon – his favoured weapon – lay abandoned on the stone cobbles. The shinobi who had been about to cut her down yanked their weapons back to avoid him and he fended off those who tried to stab at her from the front. And then he ran, twisting and turning as he used his now untouchable body as a shield against the oncoming shinobi.

She didn't know how long they had been running when she noticed the senbon – a metal needle – sticking out of his neck. Her stomach clenched, and she suddenly felt cold with fear.

"Raizo, stop," she said sluggishly.

He carried on running, sending spasms of pain through her body with each step. It wasn't pleasant, but she knew that without the pain, she would've fallen unconscious a long time ago, and unconsciousness at this point was dangerous.

"Stop," she pleaded. "Stop, Raizo, you've been poisoned."

* * *

_**A/N: Was it alright? It sounded a little rushed to me...I hope the standard was up to par; haven't written in a while.**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed, alerted and favourited! This chapter contains some memories from Ayame's childhood. Hope you enjoy :)**_

* * *

_That _got his attention. He _thought_ he'd been feeling unusually weak during the last moments back in the compound, but he'd ignored it in the heat of the fight. His pace slowed, and the blurred trees came back into focus. He couldn't die yet. Not when Ayame still needed his help. Not when he'd taken the first breath of his life less than a year ago. He stopped and set the small woman down.

She was in a bad shape. Her normally lively eyes were dull and blood – hers and of those she killed – glistened black in the moonlight that filtered through the trees. She gazed at him in dazed worry, holding up a senbon wordlessly.

He ignored that for the moment and tugged the mask off his face. He was tired and it was getting slightly difficult to breathe. "We need to see to your wounds."

Fire flashed through her eyes, and she shook her head vehemently, swaying a little from the motion. "Don't you see?" she snapped, and pulled her mask off as well so she could speak more clearly. "You'll die soon if we don't do something about it!"

"There is nothing we _can_ do! You do not even know what poison this is." He wondered why he was arguing against her. Hadn't he decided he did not want to die? "And _you'll _die from –"

His muscles suddenly spasmed and his entire body jerked. A wave of searing pain followed and he fell to the ground with an involuntary gasp. A small hand gripped his shaking arm gently.

"Raizo." He looked up at her familiar face and was surprised to find tears tracking down her grimy cheeks. He reached a hand out to wipe those tears away, but his body convulsed again. "Lie down." Gentle hands guided him down to the earthy forest ground. "Close your eyes; fight the poison." And he obeyed her sweet voice, sending his consciousness inwards as he would do with healing.

* * *

Ayame chewed her lip as she stared at his face, all her own pains forgotten. It was so pale, even in the moonlight, standing out starkly against the dark ground and his body shivered violently. Despite the Doku Clan's fame for using poisons, they only use it rarely. Part of the reason was because most of the plants and insects they used were rare and the other part of the reason was because they often did not require it; their skill with traditional weapons was usually enough.

However, each child of the clan was taught about the poisons – how to recognise and gather the ingredients, how to prepare the poisons, how to store it, use it, calculate the quantity needed for a particular person, recognise the symptoms and effects of the different venoms and finally how to cure it.

"_Only when you know all aspects of the art do you become a true artist."_

She sniffed and scrubbed her face free of the tears, refocusing on the task at hand. She needed to try to analyse the poison used from the symptoms Raizo was displaying. Even as she began, she could feel the hopelessness well up inside her.

What could she do even if she found out what poison it was that held her companion at Death's door? Ingredients for the antidote definitely wouldn't be found around this area. She gripped her head wearily and took a deep breath, fighting the light-headedness that was creeping up on her. Wasn't there another way? There _has_ to be another way. She took another deep breath and looked at him again. A memory – recent – stirred.

"_You can heal yourself, can't you?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Can't you teach me that instead?"_

_Something almost akin to a smile fluttered about his lips. "Perhaps, when we have the time."_

Her breath caught. The type of healing Raizo did healed wounds of the flesh, but another half-forgotten memory stirred.

_A young Ayame sat in the stone yard with her brothers and sisters. In front of each of them were an array of plants, a bowl of senbon needles and a small flagon of poison. It was their first of many lessons in poisons today and they had been told to prepare four needles of poison each after a quick demonstration. She peered at the flagon distrustfully, then gingerly picked up a sharp needle and dipped it in._

"_Fear the poison," the Lord Doku lectured, walking around them, "and the poison will kill you. It is like any other weapon you have worked with. Handle it with respect, and it will respect you. Handle it with disrespect and it will harm you."_

_She had just picked up her second needle when the boy next to her gasped. His needle clinked on the stone floor, where the poison splattered around it like a fan. He was holding a finger up to his eyes, gaping at the little wound with abject horror._

_Lord Doku, though short and stout, moved with great agility. He pulled the boy up by his collar. "This is a slow-acting poison. You will spend the rest of the day with the poison in your veins. Experience its wrath. Learn from it and do not forget it."_

_That night at dinner, Ayame watched with wide eyes as Lord Doku knelt behind the boy, who was pale and shivering. Using two fingers, he jabbed the boy several times in his back. He coughed and a black substance flew out of his mouth, landing on the tatami mats with a dark splat. It glistened menacingly in the firelight._

_Almost immediately, the boy's breathing eased and his shivers wracked to a stop. After several moments, his skin started to regain its colour and Lord Doku stood._

Every apprentice in the clan poisoned themselves at least once. It was inevitable, for they were children and children made mistakes. The most important thing, however, was that they never made the same mistake twice; Lord Doku had an excellent memory and those who did were punished severely.

Eventually they had to ingest small doses of poison each day to build up their resistance. She could still remember the havoc the poisons had wreaked in her body with painful clarity. For months, she had lived with pain, nausea and weakness and still, she had trained. She'd trained and trained and trained until one day, to her surprise, she couldn't feel the poison anymore.

And that was when they had started learning to cure. However, the type of healing that Lord Doku had used on that young boy that night had never been taught. Ayame drummed her fingers on her knee. She had to at least try.

She scooted forward on her knees, and with a giant heave that send her wounds into frenzy, she propped Raizo up into a sitting position. He groaned and his eyes roved under his eyelids, but the meditative trance he'd forced himself into held. She gasped at the exertion and leaned her head against his back, hands clutching at the wound in her side that bled sluggishly. She took several deep breaths and forced herself upright. She stared at his back.

_Remember,_ she ordered herself, and she cast her mind back to that time when she had to have poison purged from her system. _Remember_. Through the haze of her pain and discomfort, both present and past, she recalled the pressure points on her back that were struck by Lord Doku. She breathed deeply and raised two fingers to Raizo's back.

Seven points.

She felt the ghostly memory of the path Lord Doku's fingers pressed into her back, and with one last breath, she jabbed out the same path on his back. His body cringed when her fingers sank into a raw wound, but she ignored it and continued.

One, two, three, four, five, six and seven. A small convulsion ran through his body and he coughed wetly. She leaned around to see a mixture of blood and poison dribble out of his mouth. She frowned. She did not have any experience with this method, but she was certain that that was not enough to be all the poison. She went back to his back and repeated the process. She did it again and again until he coughed and nothing came out. Finally, triumphantly, she laid him carefully back onto the ground.

All of a sudden, the light-headedness she had been keeping at bay came back with a vengeance. She swayed unsteadily and black spots blotted out her vision. _Oh_, she thought_, I've overreached myself_. And she slumped forward in a faint.

* * *

Some hours later, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, two shadows detached themselves from the shadows of the trees to stand by the two bodies on the forest floor. Their traitorous sister was draped over the Lord Ozunu's chest, where she seemed to have lost consciousness and the Lord Ozunu himself was...breathing. A little shallowly, but the rise and fall of his chest could not be mistaken. Father would be displeased.

"She healed him," one shadow hissed.

"That can't be helped. We'll take her back and tell Father the news."

The shadow nodded and two hands reached out for the unconscious woman. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

* * *

It was high noon when Raizo woke up. He blinked blearily and scrunched his eyes up when a breeze disturbed the branches overhead to send searing rays of sunlight into his cool shade. What had happened? His last memory was of Ayame crying as she told him to lie down and fight the poison. He was alive, judging by the many pains in his body that made him reluctant to move, which meant that she had found a way to save him. But where was she? He turned his head about, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Ayame," he croaked, his dry throat grating as he forced her name out. She didn't answer. "Ayame?" he called louder. Silence answered him and worry began to gnaw on him. With a groan, he forced his body to its feet, taking an inventory of his hurts as he did so. Several of his cuts were deep; none were life-threatening, but with the amount of dirt that had accumulated in his wounds, he'd have to wash and dress them if he wanted to live.

But that was the least of his concerns right now. One assessing look around him told him that what he would rather be a dream was real. Ayame was gone.

* * *

_**A/N: The healing method used by Lord Doku and Ayame is a variation of something I've seen in Chinese martial art soaps. It's not real.**_

_**Please review! And if there are any incongruences, please let me know and I'll fix 'em up.**_


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